DeVera Miller Maxwell

Lakeland Elementary/Middle School

Baltimore, Maryland

Love As Strong As Ginger

By Lenore Look

Selection Vocabulary dialect di a lect dumpling dump ling mallet mal let singsong sing song ginger gin ger

dialect “Chiubungbung” she replied, meaning

stinky-stinky in Taishanese, our Chinese dialect.

Her Southern dialect was evident when she said “y’all.”

Definition – a form of language that is spoken in a particular area or by a particular group of people (p. 229)

dumpling She taught me how to make doong, sticky rice

dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, and I taught her how to dress a fashion doll.

My favorite food is fried dumplings. The dough covering gets crunchy when they are cooked that way. Definition – a small pocket of dough filled with

meat or vegetable mixture and cooked by steaming or boiling it (p. 230)

mallet “How do you crack a crab?”

“With a mallet.” She made a pounding fist.

The railroad worker drove in the last spoke with his mallet.

Definition – a type of hammer with a head made of wood or other hard material (p. 230)

singsong When it came, it was crowded with ladies

clucking their tongues in singsong languages.

The singsong voice of the train put me to sleep.

Definition – having a repetitive, musical sound (p. 232)

ginger “You were right, Katie,” she said, chowing

scallions, ginger, and black-bean paste with the crab.

My mom cooks ginger chicken a lot, I love the strong taste of the spice.

Definition – a strong-tasting spice made from ground ginger root (p. 242)

Vocabulary Quiz dialect dumpling mallet singsong ginger

A type of hammer with a head made of wood or other hard material.

A form of language that is spoken in a particular area or by a particular group of people.

A strong-tasting spice made from ground ginger root

A small pocket of dough filled with a meat or vegetable mixture and cooked by steaming or boiling it

Having a repetitive, musical sound

Word KnowledgeReading the Words and Sentences

DeVera Miller Maxwell

Lakeland Elementary/Middle School

Baltimore, Maryland

Homonyms might – strength/may current – a flow of electricity/of the present roll – a type of bread/turning over and over tick – a bug/the sound of a clock makes

Homonyms are words with different meanings that have the same pronunciation and spelling.

Long A explained complain rain pail

Can you think of any more words that contain the same spelling of long a?

Digraph ch Chinatown lunchtime chives chase

Can you think of any more words with the ch sound?

Consonant Blends grandma crowded apron sponges starched

Can you identify the consonant blends in these words?

Homonyms That wrestler might have more might, but

his opponent moves more quickly.

Identify the homonyms in this sentence. Define each, using context clues.

Long A He explained that the rain would probably

let up tomorrow.

Identify the long a spelled ai.

(explained, rain)

Digraph ch She went to Chinatown at lunchtime for

dumplings.

Identify the words containing the /ch/ sound spelled ch.

(Chinatown, lunchtime)

Consonant Blends The caterer wore a simple black dress and

a starched white apron.

Identify the words that have consonant blends.

(black, dress, starched, apron)

Spelling WordsConsonant Blends

DeVera Miller Maxwell

Lakeland Elementary/Middle School

Baltimore, Maryland

Spelling Words – pg. 68 throat stress swallow flavor clothing stubborn profit clinic broken blister

sparkle startle stumble cruel greedy grandma crowded apron sponges starched